Europe | Horse Racing Free Tips

Alcohol Free to Miss Haydock Sprint Cup

Four-time Group 1 winner Alcohol Free (Ire) has been ruled out of Saturday's G1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock with a minor injury.

A winner at the top level at two, three and four, the Andrew Balding-trained filly required stitches for a cut in an “awkward place” and looks likely to be sidelined for around ten days.

“Unfortunately Alcohol Free has sustained what we hope is a minor injury, but it is significant enough to rule her out of the Sprint Cup,” reported Balding.

“She's got a cut which requires some stitches in an awkward place. Hopefully it is not the end of her career, but it will seriously compromise her chances of getting to Haydock in top form, so we have decided to scrap that and work on alternative plans.”

Having won the Cheveley Park S. as a juvenile, Alcohol Free's successful 3-year-old campaign included victories over a mile in the Coronation S. and Sussex S. A drop back in trip this season also saw Jeff Smith's colour-bearer claim the July Cup at Newmarket before finishing third to Baaeed (GB) in a repeat attempt at the Sussex S. at Goodwood.

Her trainer added, “We are just going to have to be guided by how she responds. It has been stitched and we need to see how she responds to that, and we certainly wouldn't be taking any chances, so we will be playing it on a day-by-day basis.

“We will know more about things in a week's time. Racing is full of setbacks and disappointments, so we are fairly used to them. It is a blow, but thankfully they can't take away what she has already achieved.”

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Ollie Sangster to Join Training Ranks

The name Sangster has often been seen among the ranks of owners and breeders, and from later this year it will also feature on a training licence, with Ollie Sangster set to train from his family's historic estate of Manton.

The 25-year-old of course has a background steeped in racing: his grandfather was the legendary Robert Sangster, known with his friends and associates MV O'Brien and John Magnier as 'The Brethren', while his father Ben is also a breeder of note, with Luxembourg (Ire) and Changingoftheguard (Ire) being among his notable current performers.

A former champion amateur rider on the Flat before his height made that pursuit a little tricky, Ollie Sangster's skills in the saddle have most recently been seen in public when accompanying Wesley Ward's runners to post aboard Strike The Tiger, who was tragically killed in a barn fire in March this year.

“I'd say that was probably my most formative time,” says Sangster of his two years spent working for Ward, which had followed stints with David Hayes in Australia and Charlie Hills in Lambourn, as well as a season of yearling prep.

“I think the way the American system works, it's a bit like Australia, you are sometimes thrown in the deep end a bit and get to experience different stables in different states. So I'd say that was the best time for me and I have a great relationship with Wesley.

“I've looked after his international runners for the last three years since then as well and I would say I learned more in my time there than I thought I could have learned in 10 years about hands-on horsemanship. Wesley is a real horseman.”

Sangster initially considered starting training in America, but visa issues prompted a rethink. He succeeded George Boughey as assistant trainer at Hugo Palmer's Newmarket stable before spending the last two years with Joseph O'Brien in Ireland.

“I wanted to spread my wings a bit again and that was really great, actually,” he says of his time at Owning Hill. “Joseph is a good man and great guy to work with; he's a very wise head on young shoulders.”

Now Sangster is out on his own, pounding the yearling sales as he completes the BHA modules required for any aspiring trainer in Britain, with the hope of having everything up and running at Manton by the end of the year.

“I'm going to go to every sale I can and will be trying to pick up a few horses,” he says.

At Manton, he will share the gallops with resident trainers Brian Meehan and Martyn and Freddie Meade, and he already has a good idea of he lie of the land having ridden out there for Meehan since the age of 12.

Sangster continues, “I get on well with Brian, Martyn and Freddie. I've obviously ridden out for Brian and I rode in races for him, and he's been a good family friend. Anything I want to talk about, well you can't beat someone who knows the gallops.

“Martyn has done a lot of work with the gallops. When I was first back not that long ago we'd had all this hot weather and Brian was working a load of horses up the grass, and I thought to myself, 'He's barking mad, it must be like a road'. And lo and behold, I watched them work and it really was beautiful summer ground. It's amazing how good the old turf is.”

One of the other trainers Sangster has been keeping a close eye on of late is Jane Chapple-Hyam as he is a part-owner of her stable star Saffron Beach (Ire) with his mother Lucy and James Wigan. The dual Group 1 winner had originally been bought as a foal for 55,000gns to pinhook until an injured foot meant she missed her subsequent sales engagements.

“It's the luckiest thing ever,” he says. “That's partially what's going to give me the chance to get going here, having had that great ride with her. Obviously, Jane and her whole team have done a wonderful job. It's been an amazing journey and hopefully it's not quite over yet.”

While Chapple-Hyam's stable is rightly thriving on the back of some impressive results, Sangster has more humble ambitions for the launch of his own training career.

“I'm only going to be starting with a small number of horses and we'll just go from there,” he notes. “But it's a real privilege. I'm very lucky, obviously, to be getting a chance to get going here. It's always been a dream of mine and I will see how it goes. That's all you can do: trust in what you've learned, put a few things in place, and make a go of it.”

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Rockets At The Ready As Doncaster Set To Soar

Not since Elon Musk became infatuated with space has there been so many rockets assembled in the one place at any given time than at Doncaster ahead of the Premier Yearling Sale.

These particular starships have been bred to fly and, lurking among the 411 yearlings getting ready for takeoff at Goffs UK over the next few days could be the next Acclamation (GB), Dark Angel (Ire), Wootton Bassett (GB) or Tasleet (GB), all of whom are graduates of this sale.

Joe Foley knows a thing or two about rockets. The Ballyhane man jetted into Doncaster on Monday morning and was greeted with nothing but good reports from vendors and buyers about his freshman sire Soldier's Call (GB) (Showcasing {GB}).

A smart sprinter, Soldier's Call won the G2 Flying Childers as a 2-year-old and placed in the G1 King's Stand S. and the G1 Nunthorpe S. at three. There are 14 yearlings belonging to him in the sale, four of which will be offered by Ballyhane.

However, rather than put the “kiss of death” on his own draft by speaking too soon, Foley spoke in general terms about his enthusiasm behind the son of Showcasing's prospects of making it as a stallion.

He explained, “Soldier's Call is exactly what the people at Doncaster are looking for–sharp, precocious, classy and speedy types. We have obviously had access to seeing a lot of them in their prep and we couldn't be more pleased.

“They've a great attitude and they love their work. I'd be apprehensively hopeful and, as time moves on and the more of them that you see, the more confident you'd be that he's going to be a good stallion.”

Foley added, “His progeny love lunging, love walking and love coming in and doing stuff, and that is a great sign in a stallion's progeny, because it doesn't always happen. Some of them don't like work, show a bit of temper, but the Soldier's Calls are not like that. They're deadly.

“They all have a lovely attitude. When you get over here and people report back the same, it creates a good vibe and I'm very happy with what I am seeing.

“Doncaster is a very popular sale and loads of people try to support it. It would appear that everyone is here this year so there's going to be a lot of competition for the right ones.”

You don't have to walk beyond Barn A to realise that there will be a wicked fight in the sales ring to smoke out the best of what's on offer at this year's sale.

At one end of that barn in particular on Monday afternoon, you had George Boughey busy inspecting yearlings while in another, Mark Johnston had just arrived.

William Haggas, Andrew Balding, Joseph and Donnacha O'Brien, Kevin Ryan and Roger Varian are just a handful of other well-known trainers to have made their presence felt in recent days.

The breeze-up fraternity were also out in force, with Johnny Collins, Byron Rogers, Katie Walsh, Roger Marley and more providing a snapshot of the faces on the ground at Doncaster.

Like Soldier's Call, progeny by Le Brivido (Fr) represent something new for prospective buyers. Simon Sweeting, who for one season stood Le Brivido at Overbury Stud, offers two of the three yearlings in the sale by the former G3 Jersey S. hero, the pick of which appears to be lot 201.

A bonny half-brother to Ladies Church (GB) (Churchill {Ire}), who bagged the G2 Sapphire S. at the Curragh when last seen, lot 201 will bid to provide his stallion with something of a springboard.

Sweeting said, “He's a super colt and obviously the page has improved a lot. Unfortunately, we stood Le Brivido for a season-shared him with Coolmore-but he wasn't as popular as we hoped he'd be.

“Why that was, I don't know. Whether they couldn't get their heads around Siyouni (Fr) at the time, I don't know, but we thought he was everything that a breeder could want.

“We supported him and have several yearlings by him to sell this year but, because he didn't cover enough mares, we made an early decision to move him back to France.”

Sweeting added, “He's over there now covering plenty of mares and obviously we hope some of these yearlings can win plenty of races to get his stallion career up and running. He covered just 60-odd mares in that first season for us, which isn't enough, so to give him a chance, we sent him to France. He's been busy over there so we'll see what happens on the racecourse.”

All told, there are six yearlings by Advertise (GB) in the sale, one of which is lot 174, a colt offered by Llety Farms, whose David Hodge is quietly optimistic.

Hodge said, “He's been busy and is what I'd call a typical Donny horse-it's what we picked him out for, to bring him here. He's a homebred. He was bred on the farm for Paul Brocklehurst, who had the Cesarewitch winner Sweet Selection (GB) (Stimulation {Ire}).”

Fellow first-season sires for next year, Inns Of Court (Ire), Blue Point (Ire), Calyx (GB), Eqtidaar (Ire), Invincible Army (Ire), Land Force (Ire), Magna Grecia (Ire), Masar (Ire), Too Darn Hot (GB), Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), and Ten Sovereigns (Ire) are all represented in the catalogue.

Mark McStay, who was busy at the August Sale at Arqana just over a week ago, expects to be active at Doncaster and praised Goffs for making the huge number of clients in attendance feel welcome.

He said, “I will be buying for a variety of different people–some trainers and owners. I thought it was a typically good draft of yearlings and, as per usual, it will throw up a lot of good 2-year-old winners next year. Goffs have done a great job in making everyone feel really welcome here and it should be a very good sale.”

Only one man knows more about launching rockets than Musk, and that's the Goffs Chief Executive Henry Beeby, the man behind that warm welcome.

Beeby was typically optimistic on the eve of the 2022 Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, which kicks off at 10 am on Tuesday, and admitted that everything was in place for a good sale.

He said, “The vendors have all been very positive. They brought very good horses and were very busy yesterday and very busy today and everything is set up nicely. We're cautiously optimistic but, the closer you get, the more you think, 'goodness me, there are some lovely horses here.' We'll see what happens. It's looking very positive at the moment.”

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How Dias Turned Water Into Wine With 100-1 Naas Maiden Winner

As unlikely triumphs go, the story of Diego Dias plundering a 13-runner Naas maiden with a 100-1 outsider son of the unheralded Johnny Barnes (Ire) would fit nicely in the catalogue of improbable dreams realised.

But that's exactly the trick the Brazilian native achieved on Sunday with the now likely-to-be-sold Winemaker (Fr)–and he even backed the colt to win that six-furlong maiden at massive odds for good measure.

In between sniffing out the next Shelton (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) or Malavath (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), both of whom have passed through the hands of the renowned breeze-up operator, Dias cheered home his Naas winner at Doncaster on Sunday ahead of the Premier Yearling Sale.

Not only did Dias bag almost €15,000 in winning prize-money, he also netted the price of the horse in money won off the bookmakers. However, the biggest windfall of all looks set to be secured in the coming days, with six-figure offers on the table from a number of clients.

Dias explained, “I got him at 150-1 but the bookies only let me have 29 euros each-way that morning. I waited a couple of hours and they let me put another 30 euros each-way and then, just before the off, I had one more good bet at odds of 100-1.

“What's even better was, my partner Hannah was at the track with a few friends. One of them, a Brazilian girl, knows nothing about racing but went up and had 20 euros to win at 100-1. She won two grand and was over the moon. It was a great day.”

He added, “I've had a good few calls about the horse since Sunday. If I am honest, I think he could end up in America. He acts very well on the sand but he's equally as effective on the grass. I actually never worked him on the grass before Naas but he handled it no bother.”

Winemaker was originally bought by John Bourke of Hyde Park Stud. It was Bourke's eye and pocket that sourced Poyle Sophie (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), carrying future Classic winner Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}), for just 3,000gns at the December Mares Sale in 2018. Bourke parted with the same paltry fee–in euros–to secure Winemaker at the Osarus September Yearling Sale.

Fast-forward eight months and the Cork native was back on the boat to France with Winemaker, who Dias breezed and then followed into the ring at the Arqana Deauville Summer Sale, eventually pouncing to snap up the colt at €12,000.

Bourke explained, “I bought Winemaker for €3,000 as a yearling last September. I loved him when I saw him. He was a May foal but he was strong–he'd a fantastic arse on him.

“I brought him home and never entered him for any sale and just kept him for that July Sale at Arqana in Deauville. I had 14 in that sale, half of which were ones who didn't sell elsewhere or whatever, including the Galiway (Fr) filly [Cite d'Or {Fr}] who Nick Bradley bought off me for €43,000.

“I couldn't get 20,000 guineas for her at Tattersalls in April but I got €43,000 in France. Sometimes it works out that way–she actually won at Brighton for Harry Eustace and I'd say she's not too bad.”

He added, “I brought Diego and 'Flash' [Gordon Power] to France. Diego rode nine for me and 'Flash' rode seven. Diego bought the Johnny Barnes and, fair play to him, I'm delighted for him.”

Picking up the story, Dias recalls the impression Winemaker left on him in the breeze and, despite being back home in Ireland–where he has been based for 17 years–by the time the horse went through the ring, was determined not to let him slip through the net.

He said, “I came back after the pre-breeze and I told John that he was a proper horse. I rode 12 horses in the actual breeze the following day and, out of the 12, I picked out two that I really liked. He was one of them.

“I went back home after the breeze but I was watching the sales online. I told Antonio Lemos, who was at the sales, to follow the horse into the ring. He did that for me and, with two bids, I bought the horse for just €12,000.”

On the race itself, he added, “I was confident that he'd be placed and that he wouldn't be beaten too far. I didn't expect him to win because he's only 80 per cent fit.

“Kevin Ryan was watching the race beside me. He asked what was he by, and, when I told him, he'd never heard of the stallion. It's the first Johnny Barnes to win in Ireland. Good horses come from anywhere.”

And Dias clearly knows what a good horse looks like. He has been an integral part of the Star Bloodstock operation as well as Jimmy Coogan's [for whom Winemaker won for] yard on the Curragh but has plans now to move to his own base in the coming years.

Before then, he is concentrating on sitting the trainer's course, and the likely sale of Winemaker is set to help the 40-year-old get his burgeoning operation off the ground.

He explained, “This was my first year selling under my own name. I sold Shelton (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) to Paddy Twomey at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale. She won her maiden at the Curragh earlier this month and I think she's a proper filly.

“I prep all of the Star Bloodstock horses and we had Malavath (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) last year. We sold Silencer (Ire) (Kessaar {Ire}) this year and, while he hasn't won yet. he's rated 92 and has been a bit unlucky not to have won.”

He added, “I am going for my trainer's licence. I have been looking for a place of my own for a while now and, if we sell Winemaker, it should be a big help.”

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